


The First Summer at Hogwarts

by TheScorpionDragon (GraySonOfGotham)



Series: Four Founders of Hogwarts [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friendship, Hogwarts Founders Era, Hogwarts Founders Freeform, Picnic, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 18:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13618698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraySonOfGotham/pseuds/TheScorpionDragon
Summary: When Hogwarts is just a baby, barely out of its diapers, having gone through its first school year ever, the four founders are enjoying their first student-free days of summer in different ways.Rowena, curled up with a nice book on who knows what,Godric, taking a what he believes is a well-deserved nap,Salazar, content with sipping his tea and taking notes on new magical discoveries,and Helga, who really wants to enjoy the beautiful day outside, sowhy can't her friends just indulge her and go on a freakin' picnic with the poor lady?!





	The First Summer at Hogwarts

It was a hot June day.

Birds were chirping gaily outside, chasing each other across the blue sky. The giant squid was relaxing in shallower waters, and occasionally, a giant eye could be seen through the murky waters of the Great Lake. The grass was greener than it has ever been all year, and small animals skirted between the shady comfort of the forest and the warm earth of the sunny hills.

However, not a single soul was outside, enjoying the beauty.

Inside the large, stoic, newly-constructed Hogwarts castle, three people were lounging in a tower.

Rowena Ravenclaw was sitting in a worn, dark blue armchair and in her lap, there was a thick, dusty book open in her lap. She sat with her back straight, her coal black hair piled in her hair carefully, pinned back with several pearl pins. Her beautiful, but simple blue dress gave her an air of elegance and intelligence.

Across the circular room, Godric Gryffindor was snoring loudly on a worn red couch. His legs were draped over one arm of the couch and the other over the top. His head was hanging off of the edge of the couch, his mouth hanging open, and his red hair falling in front of his eyes.

On the other end of the couch, Salazar Slytherin was writing in a small notebook, taking notes in his precise and sharp cursive. He also had a cup of steaming tea on a small table next to him. Every few minutes, he would give his friend a glare, especially after a particularly loud snore.

Aside from the sound of thick pages flipping, deep snoring, and the sipping of tea and the scratching of quill on paper, the room was comfortably silent.

Until Helga Hufflepuff came in.

The doors of the room slammed open, which was a bit hard to do, seeing that the doors were made of thick and heavy wood.

Both Salazar and Rowena looked up from their work to stare at their friend. Helga was wearing a light yellow sundress, daisies woven into her hair, and a picnic basket hanging off her arm. She smiled brightly at all of them.

“It’s such a wonderful day! What are we all doing inside?” She asked cheerily, her hands falling onto her hips and her lips pursing while studying her friends. “We must go outside and enjoy this beautiful day! Come on!”

Rowena blinked at Helga twice, slowly. Then she went back to her reading. Salazar picked up his tea and sipped it loudly. He swallowed and set it down again before resuming his writing. Godric continued snoring.

“Oh, come on,” Hegla pleaded. She went to Salazar first. Surprisingly, he was not the hardest one to convince. Rowena was. “Salazar, look how beautiful it is outside! The birds are singing, the cute animals are out and playing. We should be out there too!”

Taking another slow sip of his tea, Salazar raised an eyebrow slowly at Helga. “It’s sunny outside.”

Helga laughed. “Of course it is! And how amazing is that? It’s the first time this summer!”

Salazar raised his other eyebrow. “Summer started two days ago.”

“Yes, then why are we still in here reading and writing? The children already went home to spend their summer with their friends and family. We should too!”

“We need to prepare for the next school year, Helga,” Rowena said monotonously from across the room. “You should do that, too.”

Helga huffed, brown hair falling out of messy bun. She sat down heavily between Godric and Salazar. Godric shifted in his sleep, but did not wake up. Salazar took another sip of his tea.

Helga moved on. She shook Godric’s shoulder. “Hey, Gryffindor. Wake up! Why are you still sleeping?”

Godric snored on.

“Hey!” Helga slapped his chest. “I’m talking to you, mister!”

Godric awoke with a sharp snort. He scrambled to retain his balance, nearly slipping off of the couch. He blinked sleepily, surveying the room. “Helga?” he asked, his voice cracking from sleep. “What did you say?”

“I want to go on a picnic. It is summer and it’s beautiful outside. We need to be out there!” Helga gestured with her free hand to the large stained glass window.

“Okay,” Godric murmured. “We’ll go on a picnic.” His eyes were slowly sliding shut again.

Helga fixed him with a sharp glare and Godric quickly shook himself again. “Okay, okay, now.” He jumped up, brushing his curls out of his face. He clapped his hands twice. “Hey, S, up, up, up! Puffs wants to go on a picnic.” He snatched the quill from Salazar’s fingers, leaving a splatter of ink on Salazar’s journal.

Godric tossed the quill over his shoulder as he headed towards Rowena.

“Roe, you can come back after lunch and finish your book, okay? I’m sure it’s really interesting,” Godric said as he slowly pried the large volume from Rowena’s grip. Rowena let him take it without much of a fight. “ _Fundamentals of Wand Making_ , right, interesting.” He threw the book onto another couch, earning a glare from Rowena.

Helga was grinning widely, her cheeks pink and cheery. She watched as Godric got everyone moving, and for a second, her innocent smile looked almost sinister. It quickly disappeared when Godric turned back around and looked at her.

“Lead the way, Puffs,” he said, hooking his arm through Salazar’s. Helga smiled at him, readjusted the picnic basket and took Rowena’s arm as well. Rowena rolled her eyes, but the corner of her lips turned up in a small smile.

The four founders walked through the silent castle, chatting quietly with each other as they made their way down winding staircases. Upon arriving outside, Helga took a deep breath, breathing in the earthly smells of spring blending into the summer she loved so much.

“Mmm!” she sighed happily. “I love summer.” She leaned her head against Rowena’s shoulder. It was almost comical seeing that she was a whole head shorter than the dark haired woman.

Working quickly, Helga commanded Salazar and Godric to set up the blanket, placing rocks on each corner to keep the warm summer breeze from blowing it away.

Kicking off her shoes, Helga started unpacking the food.

Without waiting for anyone else, Godric grabbed a sandwich and took a large bite.

“Ohmm!” He sighed. “It’s really good!” he said around the bite of food.

Rowena gave him a slightly disgusted look, but Salazar laughed at his friend’s goofiness.

“Puffs, did you make this?” Godric took another bite.

Helga looked pleased. “’Course I did! It’s just the four of us after all. Thought I might as well give the house elves some time off as well.”

Rowena and Salazar took their sandwiches as well, and they ate in a more conserved manner. While they did not voice their thoughts, they both agreed with Godric’s opinion: Helga’s cooking skills were unrivaled by any other.

As the four friends worked their way through the bountiful food in the basket, they spoke little, enjoying the summer and the company of one another.

Once Godric finished his strawberry tart, he leaned back, lying down on the blanket and using Rowena’s thigh as his head rest. He sighed and closed his eyes, a smile gracing his face.

“Don’t you dare fall asleep on me,” Rowena said, but her voice was more teasing than serious.

“Oh, Roe, you wound me,” Godric said, his eyes still closed but his smile growing.

“That was my intent,” Rowena said dryly, sipping her pumpkin juice.

Godric stretched like a cat and rolled on his stomach, opening his eyes and looked up at Rowena. “Aw, but you know you love me,” he said with a large grin.

Rowena met his brown eyes, and gave him a small frown, that once again, did not hold venom. “I know no such thing. How could I love someone who cares so little of knowledge?”

Godric laughed loudly, the sound pure and strong, reflecting his personality. “Well, you certainly don’t seem particular to S either. In fact, you don’t like any of us!” he said.

It wasn’t true. Rowena… cared for her friends to an extent that scared her sometimes, but she would never admit it.

“That is true. I absolutely despise all of you,” Rowena said, a small smile on her face when she said those words.

Still smiling, Godric sat up, springing to his feet and whipped out his wand, pointing it at Salazar, who only raised an eyebrow at him.

“Duel with me!” Godric said, his wand never wavering.

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll turn your tart into a rat’s spleen!” Godric announced.

Salazar let out a surprised chuckle. “Fine, I’ll duel you if you can tell me what a rat’s spleen can be used for.”

Godric blinked. “Wait, you can actually use a rat’s spleen? I don’t even know what a spleen is!” His wand lowered, and his smile slowly shrank.

Helga giggled as she watched the interaction. Godric looked seriously disappointed. So much that Rowena smirked and wrote the answer out for him in the air, behind Salazar.

Godric’s eyes widened and another grin split across his face. “I got it! You can you it in a Shrinking Solution! S, you must accept my challenge to a duel now!”

Salazar’s expression soured a bit, but he stood up, brushing his robes off, muttering under his breath in Parseltongue.

“Hey! Don’t insult me in a language I can’t understand,” Godric said, huffing, glaring up at Salazar.

Salazar calmly took out his wand, smiling a little. “How would you know I’m insulting you?”

Godric scoffed as he followed the taller man away from the shade they had been sitting under. “I know you too well. If it weren’t an insult, you would’ve said it to my face.”

“Alright, if you win, I’ll tell you what I said.”

Loving a challenge, Godric immediately agreed. The pair marched apart the appropriate distance and while the two women watched, the spells started to fly.

Of the four of them, Godric has always been an unmatchable duelist. While no one was a true challenge for him, Salazar could hold out the longest against Godric, so the two of them dueled on a regular basis. Never once as Salazar won, but he was a good sport about it and Godric never rubbed it in.

It was almost a normal sight. Two friends, one dressed in dark red robes, the other in black lined with bits of green, dueling each other in the middle of a grassy hill, with only two women, the sun, and the wind as their witnesses.

Usually, Godric was a mess. He was gangly and always seemed to be lacking grace, running to table corners, tripping over the corner of a carpet, dropping his food into his lap instead of in his mouth. But in a duel, there was a strange elegance to his movements.

The duel lasted for approximately ten minutes. It wasn’t the longest Salazar had ever held out, but it was one of the longer duels they’ve had. From a distance, Helga and Rowena watched as one of the two figures disappeared in a poof, and the other running over, scooping something up before running back up the hill.

Once in the cool safety of the shade, Godric sat down with his back to the women, grinning widely. He had broken out in a light sweat, and the women tried to peer of his shoulder as he cooed to something.

“Aren’t you the most adorable thing ever? I might keep you like this! Sally, the emerald-eyed kitten!”

Helga broke out in peals of laughter and even ever poised Rowena choked on her juice. Godric raised a tiny kitten into the air above his head. The small animal seemed dwarfed by Godric’s hands. It was completely black, save for a spot on its tiny tail and a small patch on his head. And holding true to his newly christened name, it had large emerald eyes, which were currently burning with anger. The tiny kitten swiped out at Godric, but its tiny paws did little to Godric.

“Isn’t he adorable?” Godric turned around, red curls sticking to his face, a large grin on his face.

Helga nodded on agreement, and the beginnings of pearl white teeth could be seen from between Rowena’s smile. The angry kitten mewed pathetically again.

“Oh alright, Sally,” Godric said, with an exaggerated eye roll and sigh. “I’ll turn you back. But only if you ask really, really, _really_ nicely.”

Another angry mew.

“Alright, okay then.” Godric made a huge show of pulling out his wand, and pointing it at the kitten. He paused, smiling at Salazar the kitten. Salazar batted his wand tip angrily. Grinning, Godric gave it a quick wave and Salazar appeared in front of him, an angry scowl on his face and his precise hair askew.

“That was uncalled for,” he said.

“Aw,” Godric pouted exaggeratedly. “It was funny though. You made such a cute kitten. And you were a hit with the ladies.”

Sighing loudly, Salazar fixed himself with a wave of his own wand. He rearranged himself, stretching himself out as Godric had done earlier.

He made a big show of patting Godric’s lap before resting his head down.

Godric whined. “S! My legs will cramp up!”

Salazar didn’t respond. He closed his eyes instead. “You know, Helga, you were right. It _is_ nice outside. Perfect for a long, long, _long_ nap.”

With that, Godric resigned himself to be used as a human pillow for his best friend while the ladies chatted amiably beside him.

But despite all that, Godric found himself looking forward to the rest of the summer holidays.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, thanks for reading! I got this idea from a chat I had with my friends today. It is certainly interesting, so I may add more to this 'verse. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN HERE ASIDE FROM THE PLOT.


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